Automatic Cashier To Debut * New Machine Matches Digital Recording Of Person's Face Each Time The Person Returns For Money.

June 01, 1998|by MATT ASSAD, The Morning Call

If you're intimidated by automated tellers, credit card gas pumps and the perpetually blinking clock on the VCR, then be very afraid.

Your paycheck can be cashed by a machine that identifies people by digitally reading every line in their face.

The Texaco Food Mart in Bethlehem today begins a new era in automation when it flips the switch on what company officials say is the first check-cashing machine on the East Coast.

"The gas stations of old are gone," said Chet Taylor, owner of the Texaco and four other convenience stores in the Lehigh Valley. "You have to keep progressing, and I'm gambling that this is the wave of the future."

Taylor has plunked down $55,000 for an automated check-cashing machine, one of only 43 in the world, according to its Fort Worth, Texas, manufacturer, Mr. Payroll Corp. Billed as a next line in biometric technology, the machine digitally records a person's face and uses that recording to get a match each time the person returns to cash his or her check.

Mr. Payroll, a subsidiary of national pawn shop operators Cash America International, has been running manned check-cashing operations since 1990 but only began installing what it claims are the world's first check-cashing machines last June.

Much like fingerprint and palm print identification, biometrics technology that once was reserved for places like nuclear plants and testing labs may soon be available in the corner mini-mart.

Taylor is betting that the convenience will be irresistible for people without bank accounts or without the ability to get to the bank during working hours.

For Taylor's considerable investment, people will be able to cash their checks 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in most cases without assistance from anyone.

"It might seem like high-tech stuff, but it's remarkably user friendly," said David Doremus, director of public relations for Mr. Payroll. "There's no PIN number to remember, and the machine actually talks to you. In many ways, it's a lot less intimidating than an ATM."

During their first visit, users give basic information, such as their Social Security number, and the machine matches their digital image with their personal information. In each subsequent visit, customers insert their check and look into the camera, allowing the machine to match their face with their image. If there's a problem, the machine will tell customers to pick up a telephone receiver that automatically connects them with a Fort Worth operator who has the ability to override the machine's denial, if necessary.

Taylor's machine is scheduled to open today. A company official will be there to help people sign up, and fees will be waived for the first two months, but the service is not free.

Check-cashers will pay 1 percent of their payroll and government checks and 3 percent of personal and two-party checks. While Taylor had to buy the machine and must keep it stocked, Mr. Payroll covers bad checks.

Taylor gets a 60 percent cut of commissions, but he admits he's just trying to break even.

"I'm a businessman, so obviously I'm not in this to lose money," Taylor said. "I don't expect to make a lot money on commissions. I expect to make money on the gas, milk and bread those people buy while they're here. Just like any business venture, it's a gamble."

Of course, Taylor has never been one to shy from the unconventional. His Stefko Boulevard convenience store has a 120-gallon fish tank under the counter and will soon have a newsstand that will include a large selection of children's books.

If the check-cashing machine is popular, Taylor said he'll install one in his Third Street Mobil Station in South Side Bethlehem.